Pivot mounting for multiple doors of swinging door cabinet



Aug. 6, 1968 J. A. BUS 3,395,423

PIVOT MOUNTING FOR MULTIPLE DOORS OF SWINGING DOOR CABINET Filed June 15, 1966 INVENTOR I JOHANNES A Bus" BY 4W4 M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,395,423 PIVOT MOUNTING FOR MULTIPLE DOORS OF SWINGING DOOR CABINET Johannes Antonius Bus, Rothrist, Aargau, Switzerland, assignor to Bus-Wand AG, Glarus, Switzerland Filed June 15, 1966, Ser. No. 557,779 Claims priority, application S/witzerland, June 16, 1965, 65 3 Claims. (Cl. 16-135) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pivoting pin and strap fastening device for mounting a swinging door onto an edge of a panel comprising a U pin-strap fastener having two forks projecting from a common base on the front side, each of the two forks having a countersunk boring, a pin mounted in and projecting rearwardly from the common base, the pin being adapted to be inserted into the countersunk boring and thereby be parallel to the sides of the forks so that the pin can be secured to an edge of a vertical wall or panel to constitute a single pivot point for mounting a plurality of doors to the sides of the projecting forks, and a plurality of plates to secure the pin and U-shaped fastener to the corner of each of the mounted doors.

This invention relates to a pin-strap fastening device in combination with room divider and cabinet structure which is particularly adapted for the addition and subtraction of partitions and cabinet sections.

Living and work rooms can be divided with dismountable walls, e.g. room dividers, which are prefabricated in standard dimenions and which may include cabinet or cupboard structure. Prefabricated standardized cabinet wall and door components may be made of wood, plastic or other similar materials which may be decorated to simulate and match expensive finishes of furniture or appliances placed in the room and which can be manufactured by mass production methods at low cost. These components can be used to best advantage if they can be assembled in any desired combination by a simple fastening device. The present invention provides such as simple fastening device in the form of a pin-strap fastener.

The prior art pin-strap fastening devices have not been economically satisfactory for use with built-in cupboards having plural doors fitted along side each other because of the requirement that each door be provided with 21 separate pin-strap fitting. The present pin-strap fastener is adapted to hang 4 doors which are adjoined to a common point with a single fastener.

The present pin-strap fastener is further adaptable to be used with two doors without the need for special screw fasteners and it is particularly characterized by the assembly of a fork member mounted in an edge of a vertical panel which constitutes the single pivot mounting device for fastening all doors, generally two doors or four doors, by means of L-shaped plates attached to corners of the doors. A plurality of L-shaped plates are provided for cooperation with the fork, one L-shaped plate for each door which is pivotally assembled by said single fork.

A more complete understanding of the novel common pivot swinging door fastener of the present invention will be had from a consideration of the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the front view of a built-in cupboard with doors in which the present pin-strap fastener is inserted;

FIG. 2 shows a section through the fastening device of the invention in side view;

FIG. 3 shows the section through a junction point of the fastening device at which four doors come together;

FIG. 4 shows another sectional view through the fastening device of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a section along the line A-A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows an isometric view of the pin-strap fastening device into a side; and

FIG. 7 is another isometric view of the pin-strap holder which is let into the doors.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a wall cupboard having lower left door 1 and lower right door 2 and upper left door 3 and upper right door 4. The cupboard of FIG. 1 also includes a vertical separating Wall 5, which lies behind the junction of the doors and serves to separate the cabinet into 2 parts, and which is shown in FIG. 5. The cupboard further includes ceiling 6A, floor 6B and intermediate shelf 6. Lower doors 1 and 2 cover the forward edge of the vertical separating wall 5 and of the floor 6B in flush relationship. Upper doors 3 and 4 likewise cover the for- Ward edge of intermediate shelf 6 and of ceiling 6A in flush relationship.

The pin-strap fastener 7, illustrated alone in FIG. 6 and in combination with the 4 doors in FIGS. 3 and 5, comprises two lobes on forks 11 which project forwardly from fork base 10 to form a U-shaped strap and a cylindrical pin 13 which projects rearwar-dly from the central portion of fork base 10. In the form shown in FIG. 6, the pin 13 is an extension of the material of the fork base 10. The pin 13 is inserted into bore 14 located in the forward edge of vertical separating wall 5. A transverse bore 15 is provided in the pin 13 whereby the insertion of the pin 13 into the bore 14 permits the transverse bore 15 to be brought into alignment with bore 17 which extends completely through the side of the vertical separating wall 5; and whereby screw 16 passing through bores 17 and 15 anchors the fastening device into the vertical separating wall.

In FIG. 5, there is illustrated the mounting of the L-shaped plates 22 at the bottom inner edge of each corner of the upper doors 3 and 4 and this same type of mounting is as shown for the upper inner edges of lower doors 1 and 2.

Each lobe 11 of rectangular section of the fork has an upper surface and a lower surface parallel thereto and the forward edge of each of these four surfaces is provided with a countersunk, stepped boring 18, the axis of each of the 4 borings 18 being parallel to the sides of the lobes on forks.

The breadth of the fork base 10 is the same in dimen sion as the side-to-side thickness of the vertical separating wall 5 so that the mounting of the pin-strap 7 by the pin 13 provides a forward projection of the lobes 11 at the front face thereof to be flush with the back edges of the doors. Eifectively, each of the doors opens outwardly from a common pivot lying within. each of the circles shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the countersunk stepped borings 19 and 20 are provided in the ceiling 6A in order to accommodate the pivot element 28 which serves to hold the inner edge of the upper door in proper opening and closing alignment. The pivot element 28 consists of a stepped cylindrical bolt having a head portion 29 with a diameter greater than that of the boring 19. Pin-strap holder 7 constitutes the center pivot member in the same relationship as was used at the 4-door intersection except that, at the ceiling, only two doors come together. Thus, the upper plane or the lower plane of the lobes 11 may be used at the floor and ceiling, respectively, in order to serve as the common pivot for coaction with the L- shaped plate which is mounted at the inner corner of the door. The embodiment of FIG. 1 shows all 3 variations in the three circles.

Accordingly, the illustration of the pin-strap 7 and its mounting in the floor with pivot 34 shows the same ar- 3 rangement of the L-shaped plate 22 with pin-strap 7, as in FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the shaft portion 31 represents the most restricted pin portion of the pivot 28 and it passes through the corresponding restricted boring within the lower edge of the ceiling 6A. This shaft portion 31 projects beyond the lower edge of the ceiling into a recess of the L-shaped plate 22 which is mounted at the upper corner of door 4.

Similarly, the door 3 is provided at its upper right hand corner with a pivot of the single-acting type. Doors 1, 2, 3 and 4 have a double-acting pivot at the corners remote from the floor and ceiling. Only a single fastening device is adapted to serve as a common pivot, whether 2 doors or 4 doors are to be hung therefrom.

The L-shaped plate 22 fits into recess 23 of the doors (FIG. 5). One leg 24 of the L-shaped plate 22 is narrower than the door thickness and the length of the leg 24 is adequate to enclose two countersunk borings 26 for screws. The second leg of the L-shaped plate 22 is shorter than leg 24 and it lies flush with the outer edge of the door. The width of leg 25 is the same as that of one of the lobes 11. The lower edge of the short leg 25 is the same length as that of lobe 11. In the short leg of L-shaped plate 22, pivot hole 27 is provided in order to accommodate the restricted portion 31 of pivot element 28.

In the double-acting pivot 32 which is illustrated in FIG. 3, there are repeated the restricted pin portions at the upper and lower parts of the pivot pin, eg the pivot pin 32 includes two restricted projecting shafts in the form shown in FIG. 3, while the pivot pin 34 omits the lower shaft 31.

A simple assembly to mount the doors is carried out by premounting the pin-strap fastener 7 into the vertical separating wall 5 and by premounting the plates 22 into each of the doors. Lower doors 1 and 2 are first hung by inserting pivots 34 into the borings 27 of the short leg 25 of the L-shaped plate 22. The pivots 30, 32 and 34, as illustrated with the associated doors in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4,

serve to mount the doors to the floor and ceiling along the common axis represented by the vertical wall 5.

Having thus disclosed the invention, what is claimed 1. A pivoting pin and strap fastening device for mounting a swinging door onto an edge of a panel or wall comprising, in combination: a U-shaped pin-strap fastener formed with two forks, each having a countersunk boring projecting from a common base at the front side thereof and a pin mounted in and projecting rearwardly from said common 'base; said pin being adapted to be secured by inserting it into said countersunk boring and thereby connecting along an edge of a vertical wall to provide upper and lower spaced apart parallel sides of said projecting forks which together with the pin constitute a single pivot for mounting a plurality of doors thereto with the axis of the countersunk boring being parallel to the sides of the forks; a plurality of L-shaped plates, each of said plates adapted for mounting by screw fasteners at the corner of a door and having a short side in which there is a boring for accommodating a pivot connecting a surface of said pin-strap to said plate.

2. A fastening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are provided four L-shaped plates to connect to the two upper surfaces of said lobes and to the two lower surfaces of said lobes.

3. A fastening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are provided two L-shaped plates to connect to two surfaces of said lobes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,075,235 1/1963 Albinson 49-399 XR 3,149,587 9/1964 Levenberg 312329 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 144,795 4/ 1931 Switzerland. 324,886 2/1930 Great Britain.

KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner. 

